5 feel-good stories emerging after LA Rams' 1st preseason game

IV: Punter Ethan Evans is truly better than the brochure

The greatest challenge to any team is witnessing what rookies can do on special teams. It's a squeamish experience, because you want them to excel, but you don't want to set the bar so high that they cannot get over it. Well, in the case of LA Rams rookie punter Ethan Evans, the LA Rams truly are onto something, and somebody, who is quite special.

To no surprise, Ethan Evans is going to get a lot of work punting the football. That may or may not be a good thing, but it will not be as bad as you may think. But before we paint the rosy-glow picture for you, let's revisit some Rams punting stats from the past:

• Year # Yards Avg Blk In20 TB
• 2017 - 65 - 3,113 - 47.9 - 0 - 30 - 4
• 2018 - 43 - 1,992 - 46.3 - 0 - 21 - 2
• 2019 - 66 - 3,128 - 47.4 - 1- 22 - 5
• 2020 - 68 - 3,099 - 45.6 - 1 - 28 - 5
• 2021 - 51 - 2,252 - 44.2 - 0 - 23 - 1
• 2022 - 71 - 3,434 - 48.4 - 2 - 19 - 4
• 2023 - 6 - 308 - 51.3 - 0 - 2 - 1

Rams are trending up nicely, eh?

EE could EZ-ly be the Rams most effective rookie

Of course, there is a difference oer the preseason and regular season games. But if the numbers hold, the Rams punting game could be one of the best in the NFL this seasoin. And that is only when focusing on the punting efforts of rookie Ethan Evans.

Why is this such a big deal? Well, ir you are on board the LA Rams two-year plan of returning to the NFL Playoffs, then a huge spike in production from the team's punter is the stuff that escapes the radar scope, but could be huge when the Rams are competing in postseason play.

And the fact that Ethan Evans will handle the Rams kickoff duties is another new wrinkle that I absolutely love. This guy can kick the football into tomorrow. Will other teams look to follow suit? If the Rams have success at this set up, you can bet some teams will give it a try.